Source: Royfc.com

On 13 December 2004, the 11th meeting of the Russo-Chinese intergovernmental commission on military and technical cooperation took place at which a whole spectrum of questions on cooperation between Russia and China in the military and technical sphere was discussed. An agreement about the last details of a contract worth 900 million dollars for the delivery to China over 6 years of nearly 250 AL-31-FN engines produced by FGUP Salyut MMPP for the Chinese J-10 lightweight fighter was one of the results of the Russo-Chinese discussions.

The J-10 is a Chinese variant of the Israeli Lavi ((in English)) fighter, whose series production was begun in 2002.

The head of the Russian delegation, Russian Federation defense minister Sergey Ivanov, declared: ?Our relations in the military and technical sphere bear a mature nature and in many ways respond to the level of our strategic partnership. Inasmuch as Russia occupies a lead position in the Chinese marketplace for military product, we know better than the others what China needs.

According to the FGUP MMPP Salyut general director, Yu. S. Eliseev: ?Besides the contract for the delivery of aircraft engines for the J-10 fighter, the Chinese side has expressed interest in the purchase of upgraded AL-31-F aircraft engines produced by FGUP Salyut MMPP for the Su family of fighters for a total of 1.2 ? 1.4 billion dollars. The forthcoming cooperation is being looked at for a period of six years.?

J-10 (sinodefence)